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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25445914">Diamond Day</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hydrangeamaiden/pseuds/hydrangeamaiden'>hydrangeamaiden</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hollow Knight (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, Drabble, F/M, Family Fluff, Female Grimmchild (Hollow Knight), Introspection, Post-Canon, Recovery</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:22:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>499</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25445914</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hydrangeamaiden/pseuds/hydrangeamaiden</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Grimm and Hornet's new normal is uneventful and mundane, but far kinder than what they are used to.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Grimm &amp; Grimmchild (Hollow Knight), Grimm/Hornet (Hollow Knight), Grimmchild &amp; Hornet (Hollow Knight)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Diamond Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/cagnition/gifts">cagnition</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a birthday present for @cagnition. Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great time! :)</p><p>The title of this drabble comes from Vashti Bunyan's song from her 1970 album 'Just Another Diamond Day'</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">As time goes on, there are more quiet and peaceful moments than there are of strife. Hornet does not need to fight her way through Hallownest like she used to, but she still feels unsafe going down the well without her needle. Today, in the City of Tears, she has not had to draw it once. The grunts of infected soldiers have been replaced with the dim chatter of bugs taken up residence in the old towers, clearing out the rubbish and going down into the Waterways to get the pipes running properly again.</p><p class="western">Grimm hasn’t seen a living, breathing kingdom since before he embraced the Nightmare, thousands of years ago. He has only been to lands after they’ve fallen, or when they’re in the middle of it. His presence feels wrong. The absence of the Nightmare Heart also feels wrong. The Grimmchild, holding his hand, now goes by Phaedra and isn’t his Vessel—just his daughter, kicking at puddles and gazing longingly at a cart selling candied nuts.</p><p class="western">“Would you like some?” Hornet asks the child. She’s already reaching into her cloak for her geo pouch. Grimm notices that a new patch of embroidery has been added to it—pale ferns dotted with jewel-colored berries. Every day, he’s noticing little details like these more and more.</p><p class="western">“Grimm,” Hornet is saying. Her hand is light on his arm. “You are not allergic, are you?”</p><p class="western">“Oh, no, dear.” Grimm shakes his head. Two years ago, around this time, he’d been in some country razed by a deadly hailstorm and feasting upon the dying nightmares of its terrified inhabitants. Hornet hands him a paper cone, blue-and-white striped, filled to bursting with cinnamon sugar almonds.</p><p class="western">“Let’s sit down.” Hornet takes them to an iron-wrought table under a wide awning, where other bugs are resting after a day of shopping. Phaedra climbs into Hornet’s lap, wet raincoat and all, chattering in her incomprehensible, babyish way.</p><p class="western">Grimm lounges back in his chair and watches Hornet hand-feed their daughter maple cashews. He tilts his head over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the memorial to the Hollow Knight across the canal. Well, it’s not so much a memorial now as it is a celebration, since its main subject is <em>not</em>, in fact, deceased. The plaque too has been swapped out for a more appropriate message. Bugs throw their geo into its waters now, hoping that a small piece of money is enough to grant their wishes.</p><p class="western">Hornet scoots her chair next to his, confides to him about a tailor’s shop that just opened and how it’d be good to know if the products are up to snuff. Knowing her, she’ll be in there for a good hour scrutinizing the fabrics and thread. Grimm imagines her poring over a box of buttons as if they were priceless gemstones, and finds himself all the more endeared to her.</p><p class="western">This new existence of his is just different, not a bad thing. He can get used to this.</p>
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